Two years on, Sulaiman Lashari murder case drags on

Victim's brother says accused continue to stall proceedings on one pretext or another .

KARACHI: More than two years have passed since O' Levels student Sulaiman Lashari was gunned down outside his house in Defence. The sluggish pace of prosecution and the defence's delaying tactics have ensured that justice continues to evade the victim's family.

Eighteen-year-old Sulaiman was killed a little after midnight at the balcony of his Defence Housing Authority home on May 8, 2014 while studying for exams. He was allegedly killed by the main accused in the case, Salman Abro, son of Sakrand Police Training Centre SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro.



Abro had arrived at the victim's home with five police constables to 'settle' an argument that had emanated from a vehicle overtaking issue a few days earlier, according to investigators. Sulaiman was killed in the shoot-out, while his brother Zeeshan and the guards deployed at their house retaliated and killed constable Zaheer Ahmed as well as injuring Abro.

The charge-sheet submitted by the police against the suspects in the murder case states that Abro and constables Maqbool Ahmed Brohi, Imran Ali Arain, Yaseen Jamali and Muhammad Rashid are in custody.

Tale of postponements

"Recently we observed Sulaiman's second death anniversary. We continue to mourn his death but the question is when will my brother's killers be punished?" said Zeeshan, while talking to The Express Tribune.

He claimed that the influential suspects are using delaying tactics to help their case. "We have spent almost two years roaming from one court to another," he said. "Initially some seven months were spent getting a charge-sheet submitted.

Then the case was delayed after the defence filed dozens of petitions trying to involve me in the murder of the police constable but the courts rejected all of them. This took more than eight months. Then there was another delay of a few months due to the reinvestigation of the case, followed by postponement of proceedings as it was being decided whether the case will be heard by the anti-terrorism court-III [hearing the case initially] or another court inside the Karachi Central Jail."



The victim's brother explained that the case is now being heard inside the jail for the last month. "But now there is another delay as it has to be ascertained whether both murder cases -of minor (Abro) and major (police constable) - will be tried jointly or separately," he informed. "We wish that this matter is resolved soon. One can say that two years have passed but actually the case is still in the same position it was in the beginning."



The last hearing was held on May 21 inside the jail and was adjourned after routine proceedings.

At present, the case has reached the evidence-sharing stage. The court inside the jail is hearing witnesses' testimony as well as examining evidence against the accused.

The defence has been accused of deliberately delaying the proceedings. A state prosecutor previously tasked with the case said, "the defence moved against every person associated with the case; from the investigating officer to the judge [who heard the case earlier]."

Police claim they have completed their investigation. "We have done our work and it is up to the prosecution now," said investigation officer inspector Mobin.

'Normal scuffle'

The family of the primary accused, Abro, was unavailable for comments. However, his attorney, Sharfuddin Jamali, said the case has been deformed by the complainant's side as it was a normal scuffle between two teenagers. "The facts have been distorted only to implicate Abro as the murderer. One of Abro's police guards was also killed in the firing. Why are the Lasharis not being held accountable for it?"

We have produced some facts, including a conversation of the two teenagers on Facebook before the trial court judge that supports our claim of what happened on the Lashari's place and why Abro was invited there, he explained. Talking about the May 21 hearing, Jamali said the court decided that the trial of the major and minor offence will be held separately.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.